Business and economic news for the Santa Barbara region

Aid for Peru Sought

Unite to Light and Direct Relief, a pair of South Coast-based nonprofits, are helping the hundreds of thousands of victims of flooding in Peru.

Some 100 men women and children have died in mudslides or flooding and more rain is forecast. More than 110,000 homes were destroyed and some 640,000 people have been displaced by the disaster. A state of emergency has been declared in 800 cities.

The poorest Peruvians were the hardest hit since they built homes along the affordable land near rivers. As Peru tries to rebuild, people are without homes, food, clean water and electricity.

Unite to Light is seeking funding from donors to send 1,000 lights at $10 a light.

“Unite to Light’s solar-powered lights are an important tool in disaster response,” said Megan Birney, Unite to Light’s president. “Many of these places are still without power, making it difficult, if not impossible, to continue the recovery effort and health services after dark.”

Direct Relief is a humanitarian aid organization active in all 50 states and 70 countries with a mission to improve the health and lives of people affected by poverty or emergencies. The Goleta-based nonprofit has shipped more than 50,000 pounds of medical supplies to Associacion Vida Peru and Socios en Salud in Peru. These groups have networks of hospitals, health clinics and partners in the hardest hit areas, including Piura, Trujillo, Chiclayo and Lima.

The next shipment that Direct Relief sends will include Unite to Light’s solar-powered Luke Lights so doctors, nurses and those who have lost everything can work and live after dark.

“These lights will be sent to our partners that are setting up health clinics in tents in impacted communities, and to people rendered homeless from the floods,” said Cydney Justman, Direct Relief’s program manager for Latin America.